Clarets captain Gordon Armstrong is preparing to take on Stoke City at Turf Moor tomorrow, optimistic that Burnley can maintain their upward curve in the Second Division.

After starting with a draw and then a patchy victory over Chesterfield, Stan Ternent's side clicked into something like top gear when beating Oldham Athletic 1-0 last Saturday to grab a share of the early season lead in the title race.

And Armstrong agreed: "I think we've improved with each game. The Oldham game was definitely our best performance by a long way.

"We looked a decent side and created a lot of chances.

"Obviously it's a big loss to lose Andy Cooke but there are a lot of good players in the squad so hopefully someone will fill his boots.

"We've got a lot of options up front so it's up to the manager to fill that gap."

Stoke, now under the guidance of Gary Megson, will arrive at Turf Moor on the back of their first League win of the season against Millwall last Sunday and a 3-0 mid-week Worthington Cup success over Macclesfield, when they completed a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Burnley enjoyed less fortune in that competiton, but Armstrong believes the Clarets can bounce back from Tuesday night's 1-0 defeat by Manchester City when manager Stan Ternent shuffled his pack to rest a couple of players ready for tomorrow's game and Monday's trip to Bristol Rovers. "This is a massive game and there are a lot of games coming up so that match against City will soon be forgotten and we just want to keep our unbeaten run going in the league," added Armstrong, who was glad to see a couple of players return to the fray for the cup-tie.

"There's competition for places all over and it's good to get people back. Hopefully Steve Davis will be back soon and Chris Brass has already returned so that creates more competition for places at the back as well which is great."

Armstrong, one of the first names on the team-sheet last season, suffered from that competition when he sat on the bench for the first two games of this campaign.

But his return with the captain's arm-band, initially at sweeper and then as one of three central defenders at Boundary Park a week ago, has coincided with Burnley's first two wins of the season.

"You just do your best to try and stay in. Everybody knows there will probably be times when certain players are out of the team. But everybody's together and that's the most important thing in a football club.

"So I think we've got a good chance of doing well which I've said right from the start," he insisted.

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